The Crucible

Overview

Synopsis

_The Crucible _ is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, amid the chaos of the infamous Salem witch trials. After the Reverend Samuel Parris catches his daughter, Betty, dancing with her friends in the woods, she faints and becomes deathly ill. Meanwhile, the Reverend's niece, Abigail, has had an affair with John Proctor, a farmer. When he refuses to confess his love for her, Abigail tells the authorities that the girls -- including John's wife, Elizabeth -- were performing witchcraft. In the end, John and countless others are wrongly executed, after being accused and convicted of witchcraft. Miller's compelling drama is not only an account of the historical phenomenon of witch hunting in Salem, but draws a strong allegorical parallel to the McCarthy Communist trials that were taking place when the play was published.